Guardian: Warning over privacy of 50m patient files
Millions of personal medical records are to be uploaded regardless of patients’ wishes to a central national database from where information can be made available to police and security services, the Guardian has learned.
Details of mental illnesses, abortions, pregnancy, HIV status, drug-taking, or alcoholism may also be included, and there are no laws to prevent DNA profiles being added. The uploading is planned under Whitehall’s bedevilled £12bn scheme to computerise the health service.
Posted on November 1st, 2006 at 11:31am under Affronts to democracy, Chicken Nuggets, UK politics
In theory I’d be for it – as an intergrated health service would be a good idea – rather than one chopped up into tiny pieces and sold to the highest bidder, hrmpf, BUT I have the following problems
i. the state is rubbish and will cock it up and so the system will probably kill more people than it saves.
ii. this will probably be due to the fact that they have to farm it all out to the private sector, who couldn’t give a toss about anything except profit margins – knowing the government will cover their back
iii. why will the police have access to this?
iv. a system with so many access points like this is *bound* to be abused. And not in a good way.
Once again I find myself the curmudgeon.
I’d add to that what damage this might do to the doctor/patient relationship. How many people, and I’m thinking mainly of people with depression and similar conditions, might opt to stay at home rather than risk putting intimate details into such a system?
It’d be good for NHS figures I suppose.